I realized today that I love Indian food, but have no idea how it is made, or really any of the "theory" of history behind it.

This is something that I would really love to learn, so I immediately went to amazon to search for a book on how to cook indian foods. I was disappointed when all I could find were volumes of collected recipes, with a smattering of real food writing.

I am looking for a book on Indian cooking that has little or no real recipes, but instead focuses on the culture, and the history of the food. I would like the know the names and relations of the dishes, and what each spice adds to the flavor.

I realized today that I love Indian food, but have no idea how it is made, or really any of the "theory" of history behind it.

This is something that I would really love to learn, so I immediately went to amazon to search for a book on how to cook indian foods. I was disappointed when all I could find were volumes of collected recipes, with a smattering of real food writing.

I am looking for a book on Indian cooking that has little or no real recipes, but instead focuses on the culture, and the history of the food. I would like the know the names and relations of the dishes, and what each spice adds to the flavor.

Any suggestions?

India is an incredibly diverse country. Eighteen languages are spoken (or at least recognized by the Indian government) and the primary religion, Hindu, recognizes some 30,000 gods. Speaking of religions, India has the second largest Muslim population in the world. This diversity means that Indian cooking is not just curry and tandoori nan. The range of spices and spice mixtures alone that are used is mind boggling! Anyway, your approach is commendable and I would recommend starting with a region of India--that will help you divide and conquer the cooking of this wonderful subcontinent. Browse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_in_India for a working list of them.

I realized today that I love Indian food, but have no idea how it is made, or really any of the "theory" of history behind it.

This is something that I would really love to learn, so I immediately went to amazon to search for a book on how to cook indian foods. I was disappointed when all I could find were volumes of collected recipes, with a smattering of real food writing.

I am looking for a book on Indian cooking that has little or no real recipes, but instead focuses on the culture, and the history of the food. I would like the know the names and relations of the dishes, and what each spice adds to the flavor.

Any suggestions?

India is an incredibly diverse country. Eighteen languages are spoken (or at least recognized by the Indian government) and the primary religion, Hindu, recognizes some 30,000 gods. Speaking of religions, India has the second largest Muslim population in the world. This diversity means that Indian cooking is not just curry and tandoori nan. The range of spices and spice mixtures alone that are used is mind boggling! Anyway, your approach is commendable and I would recommend starting with a region of India--that will help you divide and conquer the cooking of this wonderful subcontinent. Browse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_in_India for a working list of them.

Oh, I do understand that there is an amazing variety of foods and cultures in India. This is specifically why I didn't want an Indian cookbook, but rather an overview.

I'll use the list of Regions to perhaps narrow things down a bit, but I still think you may be confused as to what I am asking for. I do not want recipes, and I do not want specifics. I want to know overviews of Indian styles (at least the most well known).

I'm not asking to learn to cook Indian food, I'm looking to learn what "Indian food" means.

Oh, I do understand that there is an amazing variety of foods and cultures in India. This is specifically why I didn't want an Indian cookbook, but rather an overview.

I'll use the list of Regions to perhaps narrow things down a bit, but I still think you may be confused as to what I am asking for. I do not want recipes, and I do not want specifics. I want to know overviews of Indian styles (at least the most well known).

I'm not asking to learn to cook Indian food, I'm looking to learn what "Indian food" means.

Oh, I understand quite perfectly what you are looking for--you want to learn the culture of India so that you can understand their food better. That is a far better approach, albeit intensely time consuming, than just trying recipes randomly. I think that you see now that the study must start with the regions; in truth, you often see "regional cookbooks" in the US (TexMex, NY Deli, Midwestern, etc.) and of other countries (Italy & France come to mind). Regrettably, the cuisine of India has not had the thorough treatment that other countries have had, most likely given that India is considered exotic and the British influence has tainted, in some respects, the way it has evolved. There may be an opportunity for you here.

If the 'Indian Food' you're referring to is Indian American Restaurant Food, then you're going to have a tough time finding a book outlining it's history. The closest thing I can think of would be the old Time Life series, that, although they had recipes, had plenty of exposition. Unfortunately, because of the unenlightened age in which they were written (the 60s ) the exposition they do include is not terribly well informed.

The term 'Indian Food' itself is a bit ambiguous. Grouping together the vastly different regional cuisines of the subcontinent would almost be akin to lumping Chinese and Japanese cuisine into one type of food. How would you define 'American Food?' Well, even though India's borders are much geographically closer than America, the distinctions in cuisine are far greater.

Thanks, in part, to the Professor's sage advice, it looks like you are already headed in a regional direction. My advice would be to do so wholeheartedly and forget completely about thinking in terms of the whole country. That is, if you really want to understand the food intimately.

Indian Restaurant Food (IRF), for the majority of people in the West is a version of Punjabi/Mughlai cuisine. There are scattered Bengali restaurants and also South Indian places here and there, but, for the most part, 99% of Indian Restaurants in the West have a strong Northwest Indian slant.

Tracing the roots of Punjabi/Mughlai restaurant food is, as I mentioned earlier, very very difficult. You won't find a book on the subject. At least not one written in the last 40 years. I think this relates to the fact that Punjab is an agrarian region with a predominantly oral history. I also believe that, like the Time Life books, the information you find in English is almost always written by a Westerner, and, if not a Westerner, than an educated Indian from outside of the region. Punjabi farmers don't write books. At least not yet. Anything you find will be the view of an outsider and thus filtered through their perception and not always accurate. This is why you won't find perfect recipes for restaurant food. Most cookbooks have authors who are outsiders that give their 'take' on the regional cuisine. A take, that, in my open, is almost always overintellectualized. This is rich, greasy unhealthy rural food where talking about. Country food trying to be re-created by city folk. Most cookbook authors attempt to improve upon it in some way, and, in doing so, invariably lessen it.

Anyway, I digress If I were to write a book about the history of Indian Restaurant Food, the outline would look something like this:

or you could start by applying your quest for information by looking at a dish you already know (or thought you knew) like apple pie. Where did it come from, what influenced its introduction into Western society, how did the recipe evolve, what are the ethnic influences, geographical and climactic. If you do that, you may be able to get an insight into why no-one has yet done the same for pan-Indian, let alone sub-continental cuisine.

If the 'Indian Food' you're referring to is Indian American Restaurant Food, then you're going to have a tough time finding a book outlining it's history. The closest thing I can think of would be the old Time Life series, that, although they had recipes, had plenty of exposition. Unfortunately, because of the unenlightened age in which they were written (the 60s ) the exposition they do include is not terribly well informed.

The term 'Indian Food' itself is a bit ambiguous. Grouping together the vastly different regional cuisines of the subcontinent would almost be akin to lumping Chinese and Japanese cuisine into one type of food. How would you define 'American Food?' Well, even though India's borders are much geographically closer than America, the distinctions in cuisine are far greater.

Thanks, in part, to the Professor's sage advice, it looks like you are already headed in a regional direction. My advice would be to do so wholeheartedly and forget completely about thinking in terms of the whole country. That is, if you really want to understand the food intimately.

Indian Restaurant Food (IRF), for the majority of people in the West is a version of Punjabi/Mughlai cuisine. There are scattered Bengali restaurants and also South Indian places here and there, but, for the most part, 99% of Indian Restaurants in the West have a strong Northwest Indian slant.

Tracing the roots of Punjabi/Mughlai restaurant food is, as I mentioned earlier, very very difficult. You won't find a book on the subject. At least not one written in the last 40 years. I think this relates to the fact that Punjab is an agrarian region with a predominantly oral history. I also believe that, like the Time Life books, the information you find in English is almost always written by a Westerner, and, if not a Westerner, than an educated Indian from outside of the region. Punjabi farmers don't write books. At least not yet. Anything you find will be the view of an outsider and thus filtered through their perception and not always accurate. This is why you won't find perfect recipes for restaurant food. Most cookbooks have authors who are outsiders that give their 'take' on the regional cuisine. A take, that, in my open, is almost always overintellectualized. This is rich, greasy unhealthy rural food where talking about. Country food trying to be re-created by city folk. Most cookbook authors attempt to improve upon it in some way, and, in doing so, invariably lessen it.

Anyway, I digress If I were to write a book about the history of Indian Restaurant Food, the outline would look something like this:

Hey, this is looking like a pretty good book! I'm looking forward to reading it. But wait... I have to write it first! Doh!!!

Thank you, this is an excellent help. The task of figuring out what I was looking for with just a list a regions was a little daunting (although the Professors post was a great help in pointing me in the correct direction).

Your outline is actually especially helpful as it gives me a good heirarchy and order to my research. Coming into this I was completely uninformed and knew no direction. Now I have a (rudimentary) plan.

If you ever decide to write that book (I imagine it would be multi-volume though), you'd have at least one customer, as that is exactly what I was talking about.

Opqdan, I'm glad I could be of help. I actually found it a useful exercise to sit down and put my thoughts on e-paper. A lot of these concepts have been floating around my head for a very long time- some as long as 15 years.

Please keep us apprised of your research. Most of the chapters I listed are pretty well fleshed out in my head, but a handful have some blanks to fill, so anything you can share would be appreciated.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

P.S. I added some more chapters. A chapter on etymology/hindi translations and a chapter on the contempt for Pujabi restaurant food by Indians from other parts of the subcontinent.

Interestingly enough, both of you have helped point me towards a Wikipedia series called "Indian Cuisine" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_cuisine). I will start there for a complete overview (very broad) before diving into different regions and cultures that I become interested in.

The more I find out, the more I realize how extensive this really is, and the more I realize how much fun I am going to have.

i can't help but notice that there is no mention on ayurvedics or ayurveda ("the indian science of life"), in this whole text.

without ayurveda, the whole indian influence on food and health is lost.

in my humble opinion.

(but what do i know)

- TonyO

Hmmmm... I think Ayurveda has a greater impact on the way Indian restaurant food is consumed rather than the manner in which it is prepared. It seems like following Ayurvedic principles takes quite a bit of conscious effort, while providing the right foods is almost an after thought. Most restaurants, Indian or otherwise, have the necessary dishes to cover the basic food tastes (Sweet, Sour, Salty, Pungent, Bitter, and Astringent).

I know that when I skip dessert in my favorite restaurant (which is most of the time), it's a small disappointment to the proprietor. The disappointment he conveys is not one of 'if you don't eat the dessert, you won't be healthy,' but more of 'by not eating the dessert, you're missing an opportunity to commune with the divine.' At least, that's the vibe I get

This being said... Ayurveda has had a huge impact on Indian cuisine, which, in turn, has influenced Indian Restaurant food as well, so, thanks, I'll add it to the list.

I have found several cookbooks written by Madhur Jaffrey to have a nice bit of Indian cookery history. Try "Madhur Jaffrey" on an Ebay search.

Madhur Jaffrey is a wonderful spokesperson for the food of the Subcontinent, but... when I speak of intellectual, urbane, well to do authors that have no grasp whatsoever of greasy rustic country food, Ms. Jaffrey is the archetype.

Madhur Jaffrey, Julie Sahni, Pat Chapman, Mridula Baljekar- all knowledgeable ambassadars with a huge, well deserved fan base, but... not authors that I would personally recommend as a gateway to Indian Restaurant food.

If someone were dead set on finding a cookbook that might shed a little light on this topic... I might recommend Sameen Rushdie (Salman's sister). She has an out of print cookbook that touches on the culture of Islamic Northwest Indian food. It's not the end all be all for this topic, but there are bits and pieces of illuminating information.

Other than Rushdie... I might recommend Monica Bhide. Maybe... I haven't read her books, but I have spoken with her in depth. She's very sweet, hails from the region, but, more importantly (if she ever reads this, I hope she forgives me) she's a tiny bit rough around the edges. I'm not saying she chews tobacco and drives a truck, she just doesn't dot every single 'i' and crosss every single 't.' That's what anyone interested in this subject should be looking for in an author. A woman (or man) of the people.